This application include a microfiche appendix containing a database structure diagram made up of 5 constituent pages and 20 frames.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to business-to-business Web commerce and to business automation systems.
2. State of the Art
Web commerce may be defined as the use of a computer network, such as the Internet, to do business, such as buy and sell products or services. Although Web commerce is still in its infancy, relatively speaking, Web commerce is predicted by some to soon become the dominant mode of business practice. Web commerce allows business to move much more quickly, without the burden and cost of paperwork.
Despite the promise of Web commerce, current Web commerce software is typically of very limited capability. Most Web commerce is consumer-oriented rather than business-oriented. The tacit assumption is that the purpose of the Internet should be to enrich people""s personal lives more than to enable business to move at light speed. Furthermore, typically each transaction is treated in isolation. No on-going course of business is assumed or facilitated.
Material management functions such as procurement represent a substantial expense and burden for medium and large businesses. Purchases are typically subject to approval at multiple levels. In the case of the purchase of a computer, for example, an employee might submit a purchase request to the employee""s supervisor, who might approve the request and forward it to the MIS (Management Information Systems) department, which might approve the request and forward it to accounting for budgetary approval. The real cost of such a process is estimated to be as much as $100 per purchase request. Furthermore, the time required for such a process to be completed may be weeks or months. In the meantime, productivity may suffer.
Purchasing, moreover, is only part of the larger problem of material management. Once materials have been procured, typically they must be tagged, tracked and accounted for, both physically and in accounting terms such as depreciation, etc. The latter activities may either be conducted in an organized fashion, often at considerable expense, or haphazardly, with marginal effectiveness.
Existing Web commerce software is likewise fraught with problems for the selling company. When an order is placed through the Web, it typically results in a fax or email, information from which must be manually entered into an internal sales system that may or may not be linked to other closed systems such as accounting, human resources, purchasing, assembly, etc. Hence, once the entry is made, depending on the degree of automation, additional manual intervention may be required to achieve the desired final result, e.g., ship a product to a customer. The purchaser is typically unable to determine the status of an order without placing a call or sending an email. Moreover, order fulfillment is again only a part of the larger problem of total customer satisfaction (which is in turn only a part of the larger problem of running a successful, profitable business). Returns are bound to occur and must typically be handled manually, typically by a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) or traffic department. Also, some fraction of shipments are bound to be lost or damaged. Related insurance claims typically must also be handled manually both by the traffic and accounting departments. Even though the foregoing activities are closely related functionally, the mechanisms for handling these activities, whether manual or automated, are often ad hoc.
On a business-wide scale, the same is largely true: the various activities of the business, while they may be separately automated, are not automated in a unified, synergistic fashion. Most often, different departments each have separate database systems with the departments being linked by a local- or wide-area net-work. A person in one department obtains information from a different department by sending an email and requesting a report. Referring more particularly to FIG. 1, in accordance with a typical model of business automation, various departments (e.g., sales, sales support, customer service, accounting, purchasing, receiving, engineering, assembly, shipping) are separately automated but linked together by a computer network (e.g, LAN, WAN). Each department interfaces to multiple different departments in an essentially manual fashion but using modern electronic communications toolsxe2x80x94phone, fax, email, computer hardcopy, etc. Comparison of the resulting overall business process to a Rube Goldberg invention is apt, if mildly exaggerated. The process entails repeated transmission of duplicate information to different departments and repeated transmission of additional information and instructions to different departments on an as-needed basis. The party transmitting the information controls the amount and quality of information conveyed. The party receiving the information has no control over the information or the quality of the instructions received but rather is entirely dependent on the party transmitting the information. Duplication occurs both within departments and between departments. An external influence to the system (a call from a customer or vendor, a new customer account, a ruffled employee) can and often does cause a flurry of activities, but often produces less-than-commensurate positive results because of the inherent inefficiency of the system. The process, because it is ill-defined, is not easily reversible when an error has been made.
The foregoing model results in the fragmentation of informationxe2x80x94xe2x80x9cthe right hand does not know what the left hand is doing.xe2x80x9d Information is transported from one place to another, either in hardcopy form, necessitating re-entry, or in such electronic form as to require substantial massaging, and with substantial latency such that by the time the information is to be used it is already outdated. A business executive, for lack of readily-available, accurate, verifiable information in usable form, must then rely heavily on subordinates to obtain a picture (hopefully accurate) of what is happening inside the company. Considerably employee time may be spent gathering historical data to satisfy the need for management information. The same factors that hamper management performance may also cause performance at lower levels within the company to suffer. Employees may lack timely information regarding critical tasks that need to be performed. For lack of timely information regarding returns, for example, or some other aspects of operations, accounting personnel may pay invoices that should in fact not be paid.
The lack of readily-available, verifiable information in usable form is most pronounced in relation to financial information. In the case of a sales company doing a substantial volume of business, for example, preparation of a state sales tax return may take ten man-days or more. An audit may take a similar amount of preparation. Closing the books on an accounting period is itself an arduous task. The time requirements and challenges posed by month-end and year-end closings are all-too-familiar to virtually all in-house accountants. Despite these heroics, the inherent latency of the process diminishes the value of the results. A finalized June statement, for example, might be received at the end of July or the beginning of August, hampering the ability to react quickly to changing business conditions.
For lack of readily-available, verifiable information in usable form, employee evaluation is often performed more on the basis of perception than objective reality. The appearance of performance then becomes at least as important as real performance. Employee performance and employee morale may suffer as a result.
Numerous xe2x80x9chigh-powerxe2x80x9d database application software packages exist in the marketplace, from such industry leaders as SAP, Peoplesoft, BAAN, and Oracle. The solutions of each of these vendors have strengths and weaknesses. SAP, for example, although strong in the area of fixed asset management and financials, does not provide shipping and receiving functions. To automate these functions requires the use of separate software. Furthermore, Web integration is problematic. BAAN is strong in the areas of shipping/receiving, manufacture and assembly, but is limited in the areas of fixed asset management and material handling. In particular, BAAN is bound by conventional notions of real inventoryxe2x80x94an item must physically be in stock before it can be ordered (as contrasted with the concept of virtual inventory, explained more fully hereinafter). Peoplesoft offers strong human relations functions but is not strong in xe2x80x9cback-endxe2x80x9d functions. Software packages from Peoplesoft and BAAN are therefore often linked together to provided a more complete solution. Similarly, software from SAP may be linked to software from BAAN. Oracle offers discrete modules for almost all of the functions offered by the other software packages. The modules must be linked together in a laborious process, however. None of these software packages have a Web-centric design, nor has any been used to successfully implement an automatic ene-to-end business process, even in large corporations having no lack of resources.
Web-centric xe2x80x9ce-business solutionsxe2x80x9d are offered by Pandesic (Intel and SAP), Actra (Netscape) and other (typically early-stage) companies. In the case of Pandesic, early promotional materials indicate a distinct consumer orientation as opposed to business-to-business. A conventional real inventory model is followed in which product must be warehoused and on-hand in order to allow the product to be ordered. Furthermore, Web operations are segregated from non-Web operations, necessitating duplication. In the case of Actra, a portfolio of commerce software, including legacy application integration modules, are designed to xe2x80x9cbridge gaps between enterprises and applications,xe2x80x9d enabling business-to-business transactions, buyer-side and seller-side procurement, consumer on-line Internet storefronts, and commercial Internet publishing. This xe2x80x9cgap-bridgingxe2x80x9d approach likewise entails substantial duplication.
Dell and Cisco each sells computer and networking equipment directly to consumers over the Web using configuration and order software developed by outside third parties. Business-to-business features, such as invoices, RMAs (particularly automatic xe2x80x9cinstantxe2x80x9d RMAs) are lacking. The software does not provide an end-to-end Web-business solution.
A need therefore exists for software that enables end-to-end, business-to-business Web commerce and that automates to the greatest degree possible, in a unified and synergistic fashion, the various aspects of running a successful and profitable business. The present invention addresses this need.
The present invention, generally speaking, provides software that enables end-to-end, business-to-business Web commerce (Web business, or e-business) and that automates to the greatest degree possible, in a unified and synergistic fashion and using best proven business practices, the various aspects of running a successful and profitable business. Web business and business automation are both greatly facilitated using a computing model based on a single integrated database management system (DBMS) that is either Web-enabled or provided with a Web front-end. The Web provides a window into a xe2x80x9cseamlessxe2x80x9d end-to-end internal business process. The effect of such integration on the business cycle is profound, allowing the sale of virtually anything in a transactional context (goods, services, insurance, subscriptions, etc.) to be drastically streamlined. In the case of a just-in-time product reseller, for example, a comprehensive product list is updated electronically in real time or at regular intervals from various sources (e.g., by file download, over the Web, or from CD or floppy distributions or other media or even manual input). A graphical Web interface allows a user to obtain a quote based on the product list. The quote is assigned a quote number and saved in the DBMS and may be retrieved and viewed at a later date. Based on the quote, a user with appropriate Web-verifiable authority may place an order on behalf of a company in accordance with a pre-existing agreement with the company. An employee of the seller, using the same DBMS, purchases product to fill the order. When the product is received, information regarding receipt of the product is entered into the DBMS. Orders are assembled, shipped and billed, all using the same DBMS. Customers can retrieve previous quote records and view order and shipment status via the Web. Customer invoices are automatically generated upon shipment. When a customer payment is received, details concerning the payment are entered into the DBMS. Vendor invoices and payments are also handled using the DBMS, and both customers and vendors can view payment status-invoice, credit (from returns), etc.xe2x80x94via the Web, allowing paper invoice copies to be dispensed with if desired. Returns are provided for and may be return of an entire piece of equipment or replacement of a warranted component part, and replacements may be electronically tracked. Parts tracking saves employee time that would otherwise be spent responding to customer inquiries, and also contributes to customer satisfaction through the convenient availability of timely information.
Throughout the foregoing process, a nightly update process is performed in which consistency checks are performed and in which accounting information (including sales tax information) is collected, journal entries made, and general-ledger entries posted. When records are edited, they are flagged to be checked during the nightly update so that adjusting entries may be made if necessary. At any time, the update process may be run and an accounting period closed. Real-time, audit-ready financial information accurate up to the day or up to the hour is available within minutes at the touch of a button without the need for a highly-trained accountant. A novice can perform many of functions typically performed by accountants, with periodic review and supervision by an accountant.
Because the DBMS is Web-enabled, given the appropriate privileges, a complete up-to-the-minute view of every aspect of a business is available from anywhere in the world. Telecommuting is greatly facilitated, with its attendant cost savings. Furthermore, factual evaluation of employee performance, whether of a telecommuting employee or an office-based employee, is greatly facilitated by statistical analysis of accumulated historical performance data (tasks, projects, assignments, reports).
Driven by the goals of enabling widespread telecommuting and global cyberspace trading, the single database business process software provides parallel information access to all users. All users have access to all information except information determined by management to be of a confidential nature. The system provides built-in assurance of prioritized workflow and best business practice (the optimum known way that a business process should flow) based on self-correcting business knowledge algorithms. The system draws upon a knowledge base to prevent mistakes anticipated by the software designer as well as mistakes that have occurred in the past and have been corrected for by adding to the knowledge base, which is continually accumulating. (In the case of conventional programs, program rewrites often result in both improvements and decided slips backward.) The system lists and prioritizes uncompleted work that needs to be followed up. All user activities are tracked, and users are held accountable. Every activity performed by users are tracked statistically. Problem sources may therefore be identified. Precision training and factual performance review are made possible, significantly empowering users in their assignments.
The software provides for business scalability (as opposed to mere data processing scalability), minimizing the growing pains experienced by rapidly growing companies. In growing companies, as the responsibility for a process becomes divided among more and more people, becoming more and more diffuse, communication between group members becomes more and more difficult and the process becomes increasing difficult to manage. The present invention, in particular, makes workflow and work quality substantially immune to changes in the number of employees and the experience level of employees. Work discipline and organization is enforced by, and teamwork and communication between users facilitated by, the database. The ease of use of the database system and the knowledge base incorporated within the system minimizes the need for extensive employee training and allows for flexible employee roles. Business scalability also entails dramatically increased productivity through automated computer assistance, allowing business growth to greatly outstrip personnel growth. One example of business scalability is in the area of purchasing. Orders are grouped for purposes of purchasing such that the number of purchase orders to vendors does not increase as the number of orders received.
Conceptually, the invention allows for the integration and time-scale compression of what have heretofore been largely independent, human-dependent business processes. Business processes have typically been organized into separate business domains, chiefly including a products domain (e.g., engineering, manufacturing, purchasing, shipping, receiving, returns), a payments domain (e.g., accounts receivable, accounts payable), a financial performance domain (e.g, general ledger, financial statements, tax returns) and a personnel domain (e.g., employee evaluation). In accordance with one aspect of the invention, files for the automation of these various business domains are integrated as part of a single database schema within a single database management system run on one or multiple servers. There results a very tight integration of the foregoing activities and other derivatives of those activities such as product forecasting and cash-flow analysis. In particular, a universal financial report and trend report generator provides for general single or multiple General Ledger (GL) account code analysis including sales, cash flow and material.
Time-scale compression of the resulting integrated business automation process is achieved in two ways. First, the single database management system is Web-enabled, providing access anytime, anywhere. Second, triggers within the single database management system propagate activity from one business domain to a succeeding business domain (e.g., from shipping in the products domain to accounts payable in the payments domain) without duplication of human efforts. Data can only be entered once and is not ordinarily allowed to be changed or re-entered. Data entry is guided by a built-in best-practice knowledge base.
The integrated business automation process may be easily modularized if desired by restricting access to only files belonging to selected business domains. Hence, unlike conventional business automation suites that provide separate software modules that may be acquired separately and linked together, in the case of the present integrated business automation process, a customer receives everything but may only pay for be given access to a subset of filesxe2x80x94e.g. AP/AR files. Later the customer may decide to pay for added capabilities. Such a change in capabilities may be readily administered remotely through the Web. In this manner, the customer is able to xe2x80x9cpick and choosexe2x80x9d the capabilities that the customer wants to use.
An outside Web user may also pick and choose the capabilities that the user wants to use. For example, orders may be placed by phone or fax but tracked via the Web. Or a user may use the Web only to check the amount owed on open invoices. Others user may use the Web from start to finish, to order products, track orders, track payments, etc.
Extensive measures are taken to ensure that the integrated business process is, to the greatest extent possible, error-free. Only a limited number of controlled entry points to the system are provided. At each entry point, entry validation is performed at the time of entry. Because the business process is integrated, validation may be more extensive and hence more effective than in typical systems. A nightly update process is also performed is which checks are made, including cross-checks between records of files belonging to different business domains. The system is in effect a closed system where all entries must balance appropriately. The nightly update is able to catch and flag errors (or possible errors) that may have occurred despite entry validation, including hardware or system errors, software bugs, and human errors. As errors become apparent that have escaped detection by the system, the foregoing mechanisms may be readily revised to prevent future such occurrences. Programmed process intelligence therefore continually increases as errors are detected, flagged, and trouble-shooted so as to add to the wealth of the knowledge base and improve the process methodology.
The integrated processes also automates returns and credits both on the customer side and the vendor side. Returns and credits may be necessitated by user errors that go undetected by the system, by overcharges for freight, or numerous other circumstances. Return requests, Return Merchandise Authorizations, credit memos and accounting adjustments may all be handled electronically.